PARCC practice tests in the Sheridan School District (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post).

U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, both Colorado Democrats, were named to a conference committee of several House and Senate legislators that will work on the No Child Left Behind rewrite.

Students walked out, parents opted out, and for a variety of reasons, up to half of Colorado’s 11th grade students did not take the new standardized tests this spring.

PARCC data released Thursday by the Colorado Department of Education showed surprisingly low state-level participation rates, but a waiver request will try avoiding punishment for any school or district that doesn’t meet the U.S. Department of Education’s required 95 percent participation.

The Colorado Department of Education will release statewide results from this year’s PARCC tests in English and math at a meeting in November.

The announcement was made by Elliott Asp, interim commissioner for the state, during Thursday’s meeting, and also through a news release from the department. Asp also announced that social studies tests will not be given to high school students in the 2015-16 school year.Read more…

Sixth grade science teacher works with students during a quiz at Kearney Middle School in 2013. (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)

This week’s education news included new pot tax numbers, new state test results and a revision to federal law. Catch up on that and more with this week’s Take Note…

Testing: Colorado’s Department of Education on Thursday released test scores for science and social studies tests revealing, as expected, low scores across the state. While fourth-grade students made some gains in social studies, there were less eight-grade students proficient in science this year. Eric Gorski reported all the details on Thursday.Read more…

Comments Off on Take note: a look back at the week of education news, Vol. 24

Lead teacher Margarita Rodriguez-Corriere, left, works with her 5th grade students at Ashley Elementary school in Denver, on March 3, 2015. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

News released this week in the education world included the approval of next year’s budget for the University of Colorado, a study on the effects of marijuana led by college students from Metropolitan State University of Denver, and a new student counting dispute between a school district and the Colorado Department of Education. Catch up on those stories and more education news on this week’s Take Note…

Months of tension on the state Board of Education shot to the surface in plain view of everyone Thursday when a retired social studies teacher who serves as the board chair announced her resignation and held little back in doing so.

Marcia Neal, a Republican from Grand Junction, frequently found herself voting with two Democrats and against three Republics and one Democrat — yet another display of how current-day education policy can unite the left and the right as easily as it can divide. (See: the testing battles).

The parameters of the hard-fought middle ground emerged Monday and were fine-tuned throughout intense lobbying and meetings among lawmakers.

The Senate on a voice vote gave preliminary approval to House Bill 1323, following the House taking the same step the night before on Senate Bill 257. The bills differed significantly when they arrived in the opposite chamber but were amended Monday in committee to be in harmony.

During a closed-door session Friday with the board he reports to, Education Commissioner Robert Hammond revealed he would be retiring at the end of June after more than four years leading the state’s education department through a period of momentous change.

Here are excerpts from our interview with Hammond, followed by statements released by others in the education world about his announcement:

PARCC practice tests in the Sheridan School District (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post).

A bill introduced Friday would seek to reduce testing in Colorado by responding to recommendations from a state testing task force that met for six months, but also by asking the task force to extend their work for another year with new members.

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